A revolution against capitalism, imperialism, and colonialism can only succeed when it properly equips itself to overcome these forces. The revolution's members must correctly assess the strengths and capabilities of their enemies, then give themselves the tools they'll need for survival and victory. The tools I'll be recommending throughout this essay are necessary for countering the forces which the exploiting classes currently possess.
These forces consist of the unsurpassed military apparatus of the United States, the additional military power of Washington's closest allies, the increasingly militarized police forces of the world's capitalist states, the instruments of censorship within the core imperialist countries, and the propaganda and surveillance network of the U.S./NATO empire. They also consist of the paramilitaries of fascist governments and private corporations, the economic leverage that's wielded by the global capitalist class, and the economic sanctions that the U.S. is imposing on all of the globe's anti-imperialist countries.
The American empire may be in decline, but these things continue to be very relevant threats to oppressed and exploited people, and the nations that stand against global capitalism continue to have to defend themselves from imperialist aggression. Right now Washington is sending navy ships to Venezuela, and Brazil and Colombia have joined the U.S. in increasing their military presences throughout Latin America. The U.S. regime change machine has also started on a new plan for a coup in Venezuela, one that involves getting the IMF to withhold Covid-19 aid from Venezuela's people until the country's socialist leadership agrees to step down.
Such is one example of how the global capitalist class can use economic warfare, political meddling, and military force to advance their interests, both around the globe and within the imperial core. All impoverished, proletarian, and colonized people are under siege from the imperialists. So to defeat them, we'll need to take example from the nation that's retained its self-determination and socialist development despite enduring genocide, nuclear threats, and brutal sactions: the DPRK.
The DPRK has waged its resistance to the imperialists through a playbook called Juche. In the following sections I'll explain how Juche has saved the northern half of Korea from capitalist and imperial control, and how all socialist and anti-colonial revolutionaries can apply Juche to their own struggles.
Juche and Songun: committing to sufficient military strength in the face of imperialist threats
Socialist Korea's governmental structure is based upon Songun, the doctrine that first prioritizes the military. As a result, the DPRK's defenses are too great for even the modern United States to want to invade it. In addition to the country's nuclear defenses, it has a system where citizens volunteer to become armed and trained, making the country into a socialist fortress where "Working with hammer and sickle in one hand and rifle in the other" is a popular saying.
The country's people have been so willing to embrace Songun because within living memory, their society has experienced the most extreme imperialist violence imaginable; around a fourth of the DPRK's people were killed by the U.S. during the Korean War, which Washington provoked by having its puppet dictator in the south threaten to invade the north. These events motivated the survivors of the genocide to follow the defensive military guidance that would soon be provided to them through Songun.
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